Snippets
by BonsaiTree
Summary: A series of one-shots inspired by prompts. Anything goes, from angst to crack. I may even write a few crossovers. Rated K...for now. Prompts: Attention, Conflict, Sticky Sweet, Guinea Pig, Swap, Seagull, Ice Cream, Black-eye. "He feels a hot liquid pooling beneath his arm. As he lets his eyes drift shut, he thinks he hears something. Someone calling his name."
1. Part One: 1-5

**Snippets**

* * *

**1. Attention**

Ian heaved a sigh. It was one of his rare day offs and the sun was shining brightly for once. Even as a hardened spy, the man couldn't say no to a couple hours reading outside in the natural light. Here, the correct assumption to make would be that in order to read, one would first need a book. And here is where the problem arose.

The pseudo-banker slammed another door closed.

Unfortunately, a certain golden-haired boy had decided to hide all of his books. _All_ of them. The seven-year-old had managed to displace every single novel in the entire house without his uncle noticing. _His_ uncle, who worked for MI6, who was _paid _to pay attention to stuff.

Another sigh made it past Ian's lips. He was getting too old for this.

* * *

**2. Conflict/Chinese Food**

"Oh, for the love of everything you believe in –"

"We've been over this already. Three times."

"Shut up and listen! I've told you again and again –"

"Indeed, you have."

"_Shut. Up._ You can't just go running off after a guy, whose _life goal_ is to rip out your heart and crush your soul, _without_ telling _any_ of us first!"

"Would you have let me go if I told you?"

"No!"

"Well, then."

Wolf threw his arms in the air, exasperated. "Why don't you let us do our jobs for once?"

Alex slumped back in his arm chair. It was quite comfortable. "I don't understand why you're making a fuss about this. My plan worked. We got the idiot."

"The idiot – yeah, you can say that again," Wolf snorted. "But that's not the point! Look at you, bleeding all over my carpet!"

"I'm not –"

"We would have come with you."

The SAS soldier had never been great with expressing his emotions through words. There were so many other things he could've said: you should've waited for us, you shouldn't do such dangerous things, we were _worried. I_ was worried. But when he saw the pair of brown eyes gazing steadily back at him, he knew he didn't have to.

"You hungry?" Wolf asked.

"Starving."

"I'll order Chinese then."

"Sounds great."

* * *

**3. Sticky Sweet**

There was only one possible cause of the chaos that consumed the entire school canteen. Well, one cause made up of two people. Mrs. Bennett stalked up to the two in question. They had the gall to be sitting serenely amidst the pandemonium without batting an eye. She had to dodge some flying tin foil before coming to a halt and a laying a hand on the dark-haired boy's shoulder.

"Harris. Rider." The boy and his blond partner (in crime) turned around, complete and utter innocence shining in their eyes.

"Yes, miss?" Tom Harris replied, his voice sweet as the honey coating a good portion of their table.

"Would you care to explain how exactly this all came to be?"

Alex frowned, as if considering the question. "I actually have no idea. We were eating and then somebody decided they weren't hungry. We barely had time to look up."

Mrs. Bennett could almost believe his sincere words. _Almost_. Something sticky hit her cheek and she closed her eyes.

"Right."

* * *

**4. Guinea Pig**

"You _what_?"

Mrs. Harris stared at her son in disbelieving horror.

"That was the _class pet!"_

She could not begin to consider how on earth she was going to explain this to the teacher. Maybe that's were husbands were good for. Yes, that sounded like a plan. But first, it was time for a good cry.

* * *

**5. Swap**

This, Alex decided, was the most bizarre thing he had ever witnessed in his entire life. And he'd seen some pretty strange things.

Watching Wolf prancing around, laughing gleefully with a can of energy drink in hand, was…not something anyone could possibly un-see. Or forget. Alex wasn't sure how to feel.

"Will you stop_ doing _that_?"_ growled Eagle.

Eagle. Growling. What.

"You _stupid_ sunovabitch."

Oh, wait. Right, that wasn't actually Wolf singing in a high-pitched voice. Nor was that actually Eagle crouched in a corner, death-glaring at everyone and everything. Somewhere along the way of a particularly eventful mission, the two soldiers had somehow gotten their minds and bodies swapped. With each other.

It was a long story involving a cotton ball, an octopus, and _incredibly_ bad timing, but that tale remains to be told for another time.

Alex was still trying to process the situation. It had been a long day, he was tired, he was hungry, and he really needed to take a shower. The whole thing was absurd. It was impossible.

It was _hilarious_. Oh, forget how it happened, Wolf was acting like Eagle on a sugar-rush. In fact, he _was_ Eagle on a sugar-rush.

The blond joined Snake and Lynx on the ground, laughing hysterically.

"Great. You too, huh?" Eagle-who-was-actually-Wolf muttered.

Alex laughed harder.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series.**

**A/N: **So, I should probably be working on Inevitable, but I decided that this might help get words flowing. The prompts are completely random. I just searched for a prompt generator and voila.

If there's anything you want to see, drop a review, and I may come up with something. It could be a whole idea, or even just a word.

Each prompt stands alone completely, unless I say otherwise. Basically, there are no rules. Any length, any genre, any characters, etc. Anything I (or perhaps you) want.

What do you think so far? I will reply to any and all reviews. As always, I'd be happy if you could point out any mistakes you see. Thanks.

*By the way, there's a poll for my own curiosity on my profile. The question is: do you actually read the stuff that's on profiles? If you have a second...


	2. Part Two: 6-8

**Snippets**

* * *

**6. Seagull **

Alex lies on the ground, the sun shining bright overhead. He can feel liquid against his skin, staining his filthy, ripped clothing. Blood, his foggy mind supplies. Not good. Sticky.

The pain is long gone now; everything is slowly becoming numb, and vaguely he knows he should be doing something. Calling for help, maybe? He huffs a little. Pointless, he knows it would be, even as the edges of his vision grow hazy.

Ah, he'd been looking for something, hadn't he? Something important. He can't remember and that bothers him. But he shrugs it off. No energy left to feel irritated. It feels like he's floating gently on warm water; kind of nice actually. The hot gravel beneath him no longer feels like branding irons pressing into his flesh. How much time had passed? Alex doesn't know. He doesn't suppose he cares, either. Nothing matters anymore.

But, wait. That's not true.

Alex thinks of Tom Harris, his best friend. What had he done to deserve such a friend? _When you come back_, he'd said. _We'll go for a few drinks, it's been a while._ Alex remembers. He remembers black hair, mischievous eyes, and a bright grin.

Black morphs into different shades, lighter colours. Voices echo through rooms of a life, long passed. _You stole the matches again? He won't be happy._ But they were happy. Why did it have to end? Alex asked, but no one ever has an answer.

Perhaps the answer lay behind cold steel doors. Grey, grey everywhere. The grey of deceit and false promises. _It'll be easy, we promise. Last time, we promise. We promise, we promise. They'll be safe._ Toneless words that sent him down one-way roads. He's been dead many times now. What's one more?

A bird flies overhead; Alex wishes he could follow with more than tired eyes. A seagull? No, don't be silly. There aren't any seagulls here. But it's the only name he can dredge up out of his sluggish brain and so seagull it is. He feels a hot liquid pooling beneath his arm.

As he lets his eyes drift shut, he thinks he hears something. Someone calling his name. He smiles slightly as the sun dims, the warmth slipping away.

Must be dreaming.

* * *

**7. Ice Cream**

Jack Starbright was making herself a quick snack when she heard the front door open and close. This wasn't anything unusual; in fact, she'd be worried if she didn't. It meant her young charge had returned from school.

"Hey, Alex!" she yelled out of habit. "How was your day?"

She felt a frown tug at the corners of her mouth when she heard the reply that came floating back.

"Fine, Jack."

To an outsider – perhaps one that happened to be creepy enough to spy on them each day – there was no cause for concern. The words were the typical response thrown back by the teenager that occupied the house. Well, it just so happened that the young Ms. Starbright wasn't just any odd bystander. Quite the opposite. She had no trouble picking out the lackluster tone, and even the dragging footsteps that indicated a long day. It was time to get to work.

The redhead inched towards the kitchen door and peeked around the corner. Alex had settled himself in the sitting room – she could see the top of his head and imagined the rest of him sprawled out on the couch. Tired, then. That meant no Zombie Apocalypse. Too bad; it had been a while.

Plan B was much less exciting, but that was rather the point. It would be a different kind of nice. Jack retreated back into the kitchen, heading for the freezer. She pulled out the tub of the not-so-secret weapon reserved solely for this purpose…and for Jack's midnight splurging, of course. Smiling slightly, she grabbed two spoons and trotted to the room where Alex still lay recharging.

"Hey, I got you something." The blond tilted his head to look at her and rolled his eyes when he saw his caretaker's offering.

Alex sighed fondly. "Ice cream. Surprise, surprise."

"Oh, shush, you. Be grateful." Jack nudged a leg aside and plopped down beside her charge, bowls at the ready. "You know you like it. Can't imagine Ian would approve though."

There was a snort in reply and Jack laughed. "Come on, then."

They grabbed the spoons and dug in; Jack made a mental note to replenish the supply later. Mint-chocolate chip sounded good.

* * *

**8. Black-eye **

Tom hid yet another snigger behind a hand. But, of course, it took more than that to fool his best friend – especially if that best friend happened to be Alex Rider. He received a cushion in the face and a disgruntled "shut up" for his troubles.

The two friends were currently lounging about in Alex's sitting room. The aforementioned best friend was lying on the couch nursing an icepack, a spectacular bruise decorating his face. Tom was spread out on the carpet laughing at him. His own icepack was sitting on his stomach.

They'd just returned from a long-awaited football match against a rival team. The Brookland team had won, albeit narrowly, but it had been a long and fierce battle. Even Tom and Alex, two of the best players at the school, had their stamina pushed to the limits and they were exhausted by the end. The two friends had endeavored to leave for a well-earned rest right after, but unfortunately not before some idiot decided they didn't want to go home just yet. And naturally, in all the excitement of a post-game high, an all-out brawl broke out.

When Tom and Alex finally managed to find their way back, they were quite beat (pun absolutely intended), even more so than before.

"Man, that was fun," Tom crowed, happily digging into a bag of crispers he'd dug out from somewhere. "You should've seen how the guy's tooth flew right out!"

Alex shifted his icepack. "I did. It landed _on_ me," he grumbled.

"Aw, stop moping," Tom grinned. "He only got in one punch. On your _face_." He had to stifle another laugh. Hastily, he added, "but still. It was only one punch. I suppose the phrase 'you should've seen the other guy' would work well for you right now.

"You think you can teach me some of your moves? We can be a team, right? Then the other guys won't even last a second. I'll be your sidekick or something, but not Robin. I'm not wearing tights, ever. Hey, remember that one time you painted yourself gold…?"

"Tom?"

"Yeah?"

"You can be quiet now."

"Sir, yes, sir."

* * *

**A/N: **So yeah. If you have any ideas or anything you might want to see, please drop me a line! For example, a crossover with Sherlock. ^^

*****These three prompts were from** Apple in the Ocean. **Thanks!

Once again, I'd be grateful if you could point out any mistakes since this is entirely un-edited. And my apologies to anyone who may possibly be waiting for an update for Inevitable...

And, by the way, I changed my pen name from **KetchupApple** back to **BonsaiTree****.**

**Please review and tell me what you think! **


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